Mountain Ridge CC took everything back to the drawing board, to dress up its classic clubhouse for a milestone year and get its second century off to an exciting start.
By Joe Barks, Editor
It took years before the members of Mountain Ridge Country Club moved to make up for lost time—but once they did, it was only a matter of months before the West Caldwell, N.J., club had not only fully recaptured its glorious past, but taken important strides into its future as well.
By remaining true to its vision, from rendering
to renovated room (top) to bringing the new
look to life (below), Mountain Ridge has
restored its grandeur while updating the
club’s appeal and functionality.
Mountain Ridge was founded in 1912 and its Tudor-style clubhouse, built in 1929, still stands as a solid example of the iconic structures created by famed architect Clifford Charles Wendehack, who also designed buildings for Winged Foot Golf Club and other prestigious clubs in New York and New Jersey during a golden era of the industry’s growth.
But while the clubhouse’s exterior (see photo, pg. 27) remained impressive as Mountain Ridge approached its 100th year, what was behind its stone walls had lost much of its luster—and also its connection with how clubs have evolved.
“What had happened historically was that, like many clubs, [Mountain Ridge] had done a series of capital projects [for the clubhouse] in bits and pieces,” says Bruce Schonbraun. When Schonbraun began a four-year term as the club’s President in 2008, he and his Board decided it was time for a “fresh look” and a more effective approach.
“We had a grand club with a unique feel, but doing things piecemeal wasn’t doing the members justice,” says Schonbraun. “We decided a total renovation of the interior was needed, not only for aesthetics, but also for how it was being used.”
Taking a closer look at how the 15,000 sq. ft. within the clubhouse were arranged shined a harsh spotlight on several areas that were long overdue for change. “There was a lot of wasted and underutilized dead space,” says Stephen Wolsky, who has been Mountain Ridge’s General Manager for the past 15 years. “It was clear that a thorough repurposing of the clubhouse was needed, especially for an area like the men’s card room, which was in a prime location just off our main grill, but was now hardly being used even for card playing, and had become a storage area as much as anything else.”
As discussions began, both internally and with outside professionals, on how a full renovation could bring the clubhouse up with the times (the card room was eyed as the perfect spot for a new sports pub), areas with still-viable purposes were also targeted for overhauls. In these cases, restoring what had been lost from earlier times would be just as important as updating their current and future functionality.
“[The Mountain Ridge clubhouse] is a very significant architectural building, but years of use had attacked the historical appeal of what was still within its shell,” says Judd Brown, President of Judd Brown Designs, Inc., Pawtucket, R.I. “In addition to creating more appropriate use for some of the space in the building, the renovation offered the opportunity to upgrade all finishes and make them period-correct again [with the Wendehack era], to reinforce the club’s high-end brand.”
A comprehensive book, complete with detailed renderings of how all of the various rooms in the clubhouse would be upgraded, was prepared and distributed to Mountain Ridge’s 250 members. The $4 million capital project (which would include $1.5 million in golf course renovations, to prepare for hosting the 2012 USGA Senior Amateur Championship) would need to be funded in part by a $2,700 member assessment. But putting it all on paper created excitement and support among the membership, Schonbraun says, by clearly showing how “we would make very measurable and massive renovations while also enhancing the character and grandeur of the club.”
Shifting Into High Gear
Once the decision to proceed with a full renovation was made, the project got on a fast track, and not only because of the desire to complete everything in time for 2012’s 100th anniversary celebration and the Senior Amateur tournament. Six months before construction was to begin in December 2011 (with a must-hit completion date set for the following April), a special, temporary renovation committee was formed.
“We kept the committee small and made sure it would be action-oriented,” says Schonbraun. “We put members on it who would be able to quickly and expertly answer questions as our contractors brought them up, such as Meg Jacobs, who is an interior designer. And we put Joe Bier in charge of the committee, because he knows how to run projects.”
Bier, President of an electrical manufacturing company, cites three keys to running the project efficiently: being accessible, being responsive, and then getting out of the way. “The committee was empowered to make decisions on the fly, so the professionals we had hired wouldn’t have to wait three days for answers,” he says. “But our job was not to impart our own tastes, just to provide answers expediently and then let the experts do their jobs. This was also important for fighting the ‘scope creep’ that occurs when too many people try to make their own imprints and add their own preferences.”
Club: Mountain Ridge CC
Location: West Caldwell, N.J.
Founded: 1912
Members: 250 sustaining members (total member population: 1,000)
Clubhouse Size: 15,000 sq. ft.
Construction Dates: Dec. 15, 2011-April 15, 2012
Architect: F. J. Rawding, AIA, Morristown, N.J.
Interior Design:
Judd Brown Designs, Inc., Pawtucket, R.I.
Construction Management:
Donnelly Construction, Wayne, N.J.
Project Highlights:
- Interior of historically significant building completely upgraded to restore traditional character while improving appeal and functionality.
- Popular new sports bar created from largely unused card room/storage space and connected to main grill.
- Food-and-beverage revenues increased 25% in first year of operation after renovation.
With the leadership provided by Schonbraun and John Fanburg, who succeeded him as President in 2011, and the on-point direction from Bier’s committee as well as Wolsky, who provided knowledge of how the club needed to function in both the front and back of the house (the renovations also included a complete overhaul of the kitchen), the project was completed in time for members’ return for the 2012 season.
The Big Reveal
From the moment they came back, walked past the building’s familiar stone facade and through the same front doors, members found a breathtaking new, contemporary-yet-classic look within a clubhouse that had been transformed from top to bottom of each room—starting with the entrance lobby (see photo, pg. 6), moving into the members’ lounge, with its distinctive vaulted-beam ceiling that can also be easily rearranged for functions (see photos, pg. 25), and extending through several dining venues and the locker room areas.
The most dramatic change was seen in the new sports pub, which represented a breakthrough for the club, literally and figuratively. The wall that had separated the old card-and-storage room from the main grill and bar (see photo, pg. 26) had been blown out, and the two rooms, originally created on different levels as a result of the piecemeal approach, were now connected with a small flight of steps (see far right of photo).
“Our average age has been going down a lot, and [the pub] has been a great use of the space that’s being enjoyed by all members, but especially younger members,” Wolsky says. “We had already relaxed our rules to allow jeans on Friday nights, and now our decor caught up with that trend.”
Other dining options in the clubhouse also received significant transformations. A more formal dining area adjacent to the lounge now boasts banquette seating, a new restaurant market-style wine display (which has increased bottle sales, Wolsky reports) and an upscale coffee station (see photo with the online version of this article, at clubandresortbusiness.com). Just outside the grill room, half of an expanded patio that can now accommodate 120 people is reserved as a place where children under 10 can be seated with their families.
The small dining room (see before-and-after photos, above) reflected how the project helped Mountain Ridge recapture its grand traditions while taking important steps into today’s, and tomorrow’s, club world. Like many clubs, the walls of the room had displayed hand-painted, but now badly faded, listings of club and tournament champions. As part of the room’s upgrade, these signs were lovingly recreated, using the same historical colors and fonts, and put back in the same position.
The makeover of each dining area also included start-to-finish rethinking of every aspect of their decor. “We changed silverware, plates, menus, linens—even staff uniforms,” says Wolsky. The changes, in total, offered enough new eye appeal on their own to allow windows to remain “fairly uncovered,” notes Judd Brown, providing the added bonuses of natural lighting and enjoyable views throughout the building.
The renovation also prompted Mountain Ridge to create a position for a Food & Beverage Director and hire Ruan Silva, previously with the Sea Island resort in Georgia and the Ritz-Carlton organization, to help take all aspects of its F&B operation to a new level. The added focus and investment has already paid off—Wolsky says the club has seen a 25% increase in F&B revenues this year. That business, currently totaling $1.6 million annually, is split equally between a la carte and member-sponsored events—and “both areas are going up” as a result of the changes that have been made, Wolsky says.
“It’s amazing what you can get used to with how a club looks—and how much of a lift you can get by upgrading everything to provide comfortable dining venues that fit with the times,” Wolsky adds. “It was an action-packed year, but we definitely hit a home run, all the way around.”
In addition to the physical upgrades made in each room, the project included a start-to-finish makeover of furnishings, tabletop settings and other aspects of decor for all of Mountain Ridge’s dining venues.
Tell Us What You Think!
You must be logged in to post a comment.